I was looking at Facebook on my phone, when one of our fellow longtime DW participants posted, "I just got popped for not having a trans shield or blanket, so now I'm limited to eleven flat!" He went on to complain that he didn't know that was a rule until 9.99, and how worried he was that he wouldn't make the quick 32 in SME if he had to slow the car down. I jumped out of the Valiant to warn Dale and his group. I knew Darren and Michelle didn't have one, and I doubted that Rick had time to consider it when he was slamming his Dart together in seven days. I didn't know if any of them would run in the tens, but I knew they wanted to, so they needed to be prepared to lie if questioned! Once I returned to my car, and moved it up in the line, I decided to go up to the front of tech to see what was different this year. In years past, we had dedicated lines, and the tech officials took each car as it came to them. So if a car required extra attention the line stopped moving. In 2017 the amount of NHRA Tech officials had doubled from two to four, and the cars were being brought into a triage area twenty or thirty at a time. This allowed one official to stay with a car that needed a cert or something while the other three could quickly work through the other cars without holding everyone up. It was definitely an improvement, but I wouldn't call it "awesome" like Lonnie had. It was kinda like when your Dentist tells you about an "awesome" new procedure to remove teeth, I mean you are still getting a tooth pulled regardless, so the procedure isn't your primary concern! I was much more relaxed about tech this year myself, I had my own gloves and neck collar, and the temporary license I had to run 9.99 and quicker even had my own name on it! If they didn't notice the rubber valve stems in my front wheels, I shouldn't have any problems passing!